Sarasota County commissioners are poised to vote Wednesday on a controversial bid to rezone an almost 50-acre agricultural area across from Celery Fields, so that more than 120 homes can be built there.
Critics say the area is prone to flooding, and that building so many homes would harm the quality of life for both residents and wildlife.
The builder, D.R. Horton, and its representatives say they are doing all they can to make the new development fit in with the natural surroundings, and have scaled down the number of homes they want to build.
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A planning commission met in November 2024 and voted against the rezone. Now it heads to the county commission, in what is expected to be a lengthy debate, beginning Feb 12 at 9 a.m.
Light and noise pollution are two of the reasons Sarasota Audubon is opposed to the development.
"Darkness is super important to birds, and migratory birds in particular. And right now, all of Celery Fields is dark," said Sarasota Audubon president Sara Reisinger. "There's no mechanism that the county or the HOA could control lighting outside of someone's home, like landscape lighting, pool lighting, people's house lighting."
"This really has become a vital stop on the migratory paths of a lot of birds, and they're stressed and they're vulnerable, and they need a place to rest and refuel on their long travels."
Deanna Young, visiting the boardwalk from Illinois this week, said she counted 44 birds here in just two hours, including a northern harrier, a prairie warbler, and a loggerhead shrike.
"I am hoping things don't get built up here, because to me, this is peaceful and quiet, and this is what animals need," Young said.
A central feature of the development would be a large pond at the center, with all the homes encircling it. Representatives for the builder said that pond could serve as storage for rainwater. About 65% of the parcel is currently in a 10-year floodplain.
"You're taking the floodplain that's across the site, you're collecting it, and you're putting in the pond. So you would not have to buy flood insurance," said Bill Conerly, an engineer with Kimley Horn, at the county planning meeting in November.
"The solution for this property is to excavate soil, raise the site. You created volume in the stormwater pond that every drop of water that lands within the project would be directed to the stormwater pond, and it would stack up," Conerly added.
But if that plan doesn't work, said Rob Wright, conservation chairman for Sarasota Audubon, the water runoff becomes a' problem for everyone around.
"If they build over there, and the stormwater pond that they create isn't sufficient, then you end up with all that water being shunted off the property onto all the neighborhoods that are nearby," said Wright.
Wright lives about a half mile away from the Smith Farm and witnessed the area flood with about three feet of water last summer, after Debby dumped 17 inches of rain in some parts of Sarasota. The region was also hit hard by Hurricanes Milton and Helene.
"Last year, when you think about it, we had three hurricanes in a row, and there's nothing to say that's not going to happen again. And so consequently, I think we need to get used to and plan for those kind of things for the future," said Wright.
In Wright's view, razing the ground and building it back up into a neighborhood will not work, because most the land in question will flood when more than 10 inches of rain fall in 24 hours.
"The area over there is in about 65% of it is in the 100-year flood zone. And so consequently, it's not a good place to put a subdivision to begin with," said Wright.
Matthew Smith, one of the owners of the land, declined to answer many questions about the terms of the deal with D. R. Horton at the November planning meeting.
He said the land belonged to his in-laws since the 1960s.
"I know they never had any intention of selling it at the time, and we never had any intention of selling it, just developers kept approaching us," Smith said.
Reisinger said the vote on Wednesday could be a close one.
"I have an issue with it being re-zoned by the county to allow for 126 homes. I think there are ways that it could be developed," Reisinger said.
"Maybe it's 10 homes. Maybe it's five homes that are larger and have larger homesteads and they are not in the flood plain or maybe further away from Celery Fields," she added.
